Justin Thomas starred in his TGL debut to help Atlanta Drive GC to a convincing 4-0 victory over New York Golf Club in their season opener.
Thomas lined up alongside former FedExCup champions Billy Horschel and Patrick Cantlay for their first match in the new tech-infused team league, which sees PGA Tour stars compete in a specially designed indoor arena. designed for this purpose.
The two-time major champion saw his team lead from the first hole and never trailed throughout the competition at the TGL Sofi Center, where they took two points in the opening nine-hole session which uses an alternate – or triple – fire format.
Atlanta Drive won the first two singles holes and closed out a convincing victory, where the New York lineup of Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler and Cameron Young became the first team to fail to score a point in a match TGL.
The victory earns Atlanta Drive two points and moves to the top of the SoFi Cup standings, while New York is bottom of the six-team league after a second straight loss and now struggles to qualify for the end-of-season playoffs.
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Billy Horschel, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay dominated night three of TGL and celebrated in style!
Thomas leads Atlanta to a winning start
New York GC immediately fell behind when Young hit his first shot out of bounds and allowed Atlanta Drive to win the hole with a par, with Fitzpatrick then missing an eight-foot putt to tie the match on the next one.
Young also squandered a birdie chance to win the third, while Atlanta Drive remained in the lead when Thomas recovered from his lost footing and hit his drive at the par-five fourth into the box draining a 25 feet to scramble a par.
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Justin Thomas made two big putts for his Atlanta Drive TGL team when they took on New York Golf Club on night three.
Cantlay couldn’t convert a 15-foot putt to win the fifth, but saw his team double their lead at the sixth, when Thomas hit his approach to six feet and Horschel holed the putt, with the rest of the holes being tied in the triples session. leave Atlanta Drive 2-0 before moving on to singles.
Young failed to get up and down to match Thomas’ birdie at the tenth, while Fitzpatrick conceded the 11th to Horschel after finding water with his second then hitting his next two shots into bunkers.
Thomas holed another long-range putt for birdie at the 13th against Young, who had fired a 360-yard drive and left his approach within reach, while Fitzpatrick couldn’t win in New York his first point when he burned his birdie at the 14th. .
Atlanta Drive opted not to use “The Hammer” throughout the match, which gives a team the opportunity to put their opponents under pressure by doubling the hole value, with a shutout confirmed despite the missed birdie chance of Cantlay at the last.
A necessary improvement from New York?
Fowler said: “We just have to find a way to play better than the other team. We’ve been outplayed every time. I don’t think we played very badly, other than our first hole.
“We had a rough start, but other than that, there’s nothing to blame here. I missed the green with a chip. Yes, we dug ourselves a little hole, but I got the felt like we played well from there, but the most important thing is we have to find a way to make some putts.
Young added: “I think the match was really fun. It obviously wasn’t the result we wanted, but I feel like it was the best golf I’ve seen watching the other two matches, then ours tonight was great, and I think we’ll do better next time.”
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Luke Donald reflects on his experience watching TGL and discusses the similarities it has to the environment a player might face at the Ryder Cup.
What’s next?
Rory McIlroy is set to make his TGL debut on Monday when his Boston Common Golf team takes on Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links Golf Club, who were beaten by Los Angeles GC in their season opener, with live coverage starting at 11:30 p.m. on Sky Sports Golf.
Atlanta Drive GC returns to action with two matches on February 17 against Los Angeles GC (6 p.m.) and Bay Golf Club (9 p.m.), while New York GC will play on February 18 against Jupiter Links (February 19, 00h UK time).
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